Phrasing

I had a totally middle school day today... Well, one class period anyway.

Today I finally started to teach the kids some MUSICALITY, which is when their singing starts sounding really good. I have one class in particular that already sing rather well, and so adding the nuances just make it heavenly.

So today I was trying to teach phrasing. That's when there is some dynamic shape to each musical line. In the particular phrase I was using to teach the concept today, there were two high points. I drew a phrasing map on the board as a visual representation, and we talked about which words were the ones at the climax of each part, and marked that on the board. It looked like two humps on a camel, or something else...

This class could not stop snickering the whole time. Every time I went to the board to add to the visual, the giggling increased...

I didn't even say what I knew they were all thinking. They were thinking dirty. I drew an innocent picture to help them understand a musical concept, and their dirty little minds went somewhere else. Well, after a little while, I couldn't stop seeing it that way either, and then I was giggling... Never again will I be able to draw two phrases on the board side-by-side. At least not for that class.

Since I was giggling, and to get their minds out of the gutter, I told them about how my brother used to be able to make me laugh at will by looking me in the eye and saying four little words to me. I wouldn't tell the class what those words were because I didn't want them to say those words to me over and over. They are dying to know those words. So the deal is that if they are perfect angels and there is no chit-chat in the transitions for the WHOLE CLASS PERIOD, then I will tell them what those words are. They aren't magic or anything.

He would always give me a grin with a twinkle in his eye and say, "I see that smile." No matter how angry I was, he could always make me laugh. Which would also make me more angry because I couldn't keep my angry face on.

Anyway, as long as that class REALLY wants that information, I have to weild it as power. I think I turned what could have been a really bad situation with gutter-brained adolesents into a positive relationship-building situation that will hopefully make classroom management easier tomorrow.

It's pretty sad that middle school is turning out to be such a good fit for me. What does that say about my maturity? (That's a rhetorical question. Please, don't answer.)